A day to hate and remember
by Fate4Destiny
Summary: Ukitake is having a bad day. Everyone annoys him even more and he hates himself for it. But when someone makes him see the light, he gets even more confused about his state. Ukitake x Unohana


"Uki-chan,"

Ukitake turned his head slightly but there was no point. He was pounced and he fell onto the ground. He gave a hurt moan and closed his eyes.

"Uki, are you okay?"

Ukitake felt someone shake his shoulders and he opened his eyes and rolled over. He had on a cute expression, wondering who it was. If it turned out to be another captain, he thought, the expression would get him killed. But his logic was that no other captain would pounce him. Or so he hoped...

His eyes focused on the young pink haired girl and he gave a small smile.

"Hello, Yochiru. What do I owe this visit today?"

Ukitake tried to speak as Yochiru sat on his chest and his breathing became more forceful. Yochiru didn't pay any attention to his politeness as she had only one thing on her mind.

"Do you have any candy?"

Ukitake gave a small groan and let his head fall back to the ground. He was attacked for candy? How long until the girl stopped doing that?

"Top drawer."

Ukitake mindlessly pointed to a desk in the corner of the room and Yochiru ran to it. Ukitake slowly sat up and let his hair slip over his eyes. He stayed sitting as he knew what was coming next. Sure enough, Yochiru gave him a hug from behind which made him bend over. His eyes looked tired as Yochiru ran away. He kept his head bowed as the door slammed closed from Yochiru being in a hurry.

_At least she closed the door,_ he thought to himself to look at things in a brighter light.

He pulled himself up with his patience starting to wear. He had been tired the entire day, not getting any sleep for the past few nights from coughing when he laid down. He had been avoiding Unohana from him snapping at her a week ago. It was the first time he did it but he couldn't take being in the hospital again. But he still regretted it. He wanted sleep which was impossible. He wanted to do nothing but work was piling up. He wanted to see nobody but everybody came for some reason or another. He had never screamed at someone but was coming close. He just wanted to crash down and sleep, his body starting to become weaker each hour. But if he stayed alone, he knew more people would come and ask if he was alright. It'd be easier just to show up where he should and keep quiet.

He went to his office and looked at the pile of paper. He felt like he wanted to put his head on the desk and sleep. He pulled a few sheets from a stack and stared at them. They became a mix of black and white and he closed his eyes briefly. He then opened them with a start. He came to close to sleep.

He pulled a pen from a container and put the tip on the paper. It slipped off the page and made a black line. He had no care to stop it. Today was not a day he could work on. He dropped the pen than looked at the door. If there was a lock he would lock it and rest alone in his office. But sadly that was not the case.

"Good morning, taichou."

Ukitake looked at his happy fukutaichou then bowed his head. He would usually reply with a smile, but his heart wasn't in it.

"Morning,"

Ukitake said it without much emotion and he began to think about sleep. When he looked up Rukia was in front of his desk and looking patiently at him.

"Rukia?"

"So is that a yes?"

Ukitake drew a blank and he guessed he had blanked out.

"What?"

"Never mind,"

Rukia looked slightly hurt as she went back and sat at her desk. Ukitake looked down with sad eyes. Was his mood was affecting so many others?

"Rukia, I'm sorry. I just can't... focus today."

Ukitake spoke with some pain in his voice and looked up with hurt eyes. Rukia wasted no time in forgiving her pained taichou.

"That's fine. Do you want me to get you something?"

Ukitake was about to say no then thought about it.

"If you don't mind, could you get some tea?"

"Of course."

Rukia jumped to her feet and left the room quickly. Ukitake bowed his head over his desk and watched strands of his hair touch the desk.

"Rumor is that you're not feeling good."

Ukitake let his forehead touch his desk as he recognized Unohana's voice.

"I don't want to talk. Or fight. I want to be alone."

"Since when can I ignore you when you're sick?"

Ukitake said nothing and stayed still. He couldn't face Unohana as she took the strands of his hair and slowly gathered them behind his head. Ukitake closed his eyes as Unohana put soft hands on his shoulders.

"I'm not mad at you, Ukitake."

"I am."

Ukitake's voice was quiet and Unohana hardly heard it.

"You're mad at me?"

She asked it innocently and Ukitake shook his head.

"I'm mad at myself. For being so rude to everyone. For only thinking about myself."

"Everyone has their moments. It's part of everybody's nature. If you didn't know about pain, how could you know happiness?"

"I feel pain, Unohana. Every day, I just know to hide it from others. why can't I do that today?"

Ukitake looked up at Unohana with a questioning gaze concealing his sad and pained eyes. Unohana gave him a soothing smile before answering.

"Everybody needs a break, everybody needs a change of routines. Sometimes when we're so blind to that change and excitement, it takes a lot more for us ton open our eyes."

"But I take a lot of vacation time."

"Any for pure vacation?"

"I have too much work, you know that."

"No, I don't. You have time for everything and everybody else."

"What are you saying? That I should schedule a vacation?"

"Read between the lines, Ukitake. You've always been so good with that, so why can't you do the same with me?"

Ukitake said nothing and his eyes widened slightly as Unohana came closer. Ukitake gave a breathless few words that became mixed with Unohana's own warm breath. Before he could even say anything Unohana closed her eyes and pressed her lips softly against his. Ukitake was in shock before closing his own eyes and experimentally kissed her back. She left too soon for his liking, leaving his tongue to flick onto her lower lip for a brief moment. Before he could focus on what happened she pulled away and left him alone.

He sat back up properly with a small smile lacing his lips. He slowly licked his lips, tasting her taste for a few more brief moments. The door opened again and he looked sideways with his smile at Rukia. She returned it without hesitation.

"You seem better."

"I'm going to give you some wisdom. Two pieces of it. And you're going to return the favor."

"Okay,"

Rukia put the tea down on his desk then stood in front of it. Ukitake held out two fingers.

"One is that you need both sides of something, both opposites, to appreciate any of them. The second thing is that looking too hard makes you miss the obvious. Now, what does it mean when a women says you should read between the lines with her?"

Ukitake leaned forward, genuinely asking. Rukia gave a faint blush before leaving to her desk. She began working and Ukitake tried to figure out what he said which made people leave without talking. He spent the rest of his time at his desk thinking, still not being able to focus on his paperwork. And yet, he felt a million times better. His smile staid with him until he fell asleep later the day, and even then, it was obvious he was happy.


End file.
